


trouble in paradise

by dandelion99



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Angst, Kidnapped, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23933059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dandelion99/pseuds/dandelion99
Summary: Barry is informed it was JJ Maybank who stole his 25K. He isn’t letting him go so easily. Will the gang find JJ before it’s too late?chapter nine is up (finally)
Relationships: jjxkie
Comments: 80
Kudos: 162





	1. they should learn to whisper

“JJ needs to be careful with that money.” John B sighed as he climbed out the van with Sarah.  
“I mean, I agree but i’m almost glad he has it, how else was he gonna pay back Topper for the boat?” Sarah patted John B on the back, “don’t worry JJ is responsible enough.” John B let out a snort.  
“You clearly don’t know JJ as well as I do.”  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
As Rafe hesitantly walked over to the caravan he dreaded, he heard heard a loud smashing sound. “Right, i’m heading back.” Rafe thought within a second. Just as he started to walk away he heard a shout. Shit.

“HEY RICHIE, DONT BE WALKING AWAY FROM ME,” Barry screamed at him, “I KNOW YOUR BITCH OF A SISTER STOLE MY MONEY AND I WANT IT BACK!”  
For a moment Rafe was confused. Sarah? Stealing money? As he turned to face the drug dealer he remembered the conversation he overheard. The one between Sarah and that pogue boy. He smirked to himself. 

“WHAT YOU SMIRKING AT BOY?” Barry yelled at his face. Rafe’s smirk quickly disappeared. 

“Sorry,” Rafe took a deep breath, he hated dealing with this guy when he was angry, “but i’ll have you know it wasn’t my sister that took your money.”

“TRYNA COVER UP FOR THE BITCH, NOW YOU TWO BOTH OWE ME CASH! THIS IS WHAT I GET FOR DEALING WITH THE KOOKS!” Barry got dangerously close to Rafe.

“Look,” Rafe tried his best to act like he wasn’t scared shitless of the guy, “I heard a conversation between my sister and that John B guy, they were saying about that JJ kid stealing it, I swear. He needs it to pay back my bro for sinking his boat.”

Barry stared at Rafe intensely, trying to decide whether or not to believe him. “That JJ kid,” Barry hesitated, “That the blonde one?”

“Sure is!” Rafe chuckled. “Piece of work that one. Thinks he’s better than everyone. He found a gun and now he thinks he owns the place.”

Barry was so furious, Rafe was sure he was about to burst. But he, in fact, did the complete opposite. He laughed. Hard.  
“That kid thinks he can steal 25K from me,” Barry wiped tears from his eyes, “and get away with it? Lemme tell ya, that kid got a storm comin his way, believe me.” At this point, Rafe had already started walking back to his bike. He wasn’t about to tell Barry he hadn’t got the money he owed, not when he was in this mood.

“Hey rich kid,” Barry shouted to Rafe, “you let your sister know her friend gotta watch his back!” Rafe gave him the thumbs up and watched as Barry practically skipped back to his caravan.  
“Almost feel sorry for that good for nothing pogue.” Rafe thought as he rode away.


	2. ambushed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jj goes missing.
> 
> tw: mention of abuse

JJ knew he shouldn’t spend the money. But his emotions got the better of him. As he bent down to look at the price tag for an inflatable, he winced and grabbed his torso. His dad knew how to punch. Words could not describe how much he loathed the man. JJ stayed bent down and tried to hold back his tears. He was in a seaside shop, so there were many kids running around begging their parents for overpriced beach toys. JJ took a deep breath and walked over to the cashier. That was the last of the money. He’d spent it all. “For my family.” he reminded himself. 

“You alright, kid?” the old fisherman asked him. JJ wasn’t up for a conversation so he nodded, grabbed the inflatable and swiftly made his way out the shop. 

“Mommy, what’s wrong with his face?” an innocent boy asked his mom as he walked past. The mother stared at JJ apologetically and ushered her child away. JJ felt tears forming. He has to get out of there. The screams of children playing and the commotion of a busy fishing day made JJ want to throw up. 

Hastily, he made his way to around the back of the shop, where no one could see him. He ditched the inflatable and and leant against the wall of the store. He slowly slid down and sat on the sun-dried grass. JJ hated feeling weak. He tucked his knees into his chest and despite trying to stop them, the tears flowed. He buried his face into his knees and let it all out. He wished more than anything his mom was there. He imagined her patting his back, telling him everything was going to be ok. JJ lost track of time eventually. He took a deep breath, he wasn’t going to cry anymore. 

As he lifted his head up from his knees, he was greeted with a surprise. A face. Right in front of him. He was about to let out a yell but a hand quickly covered his mouth. The other hand grabbed his t-shirt and lifted him up off the ground. “Fuck,” was all JJ could think. JJ kicked the mans legs as hard as he could. The man let go of him and JJ dropped to the floor. He scrambled up and was about to make a run for it until he realised he was completely surrounded. 

JJ chuckled nervously and stuttered, “hey look, I don’t want any trouble, man.” The figures came in closer, JJ knew there was no way he could beat them. “I don’t have any money on me, go mug someone else.” 

Another figure came out through the trees. Unfortunately for JJ, he recognised this figure. “No money, huh?” Barry smiled, “if my calculations are correct you should have around 25K right now, boy.” Shit. How did he find out?

JJ wasn’t going down without a fight. There were 5 men surrounding him. “Should be easy.” JJ thought. Without warning, JJ swiftly swung a punch into the first guys face, knocking him out cold. This left a clear pathway out the danger circle. JJ ran. For his life. 

“DON’T JUST STAND THERE IDIOTS, GET THE COWARD. ALIVE.” Barry screamed at his thugs. JJ could run faster. But the immense pain in his chest really wasn’t helping. He felt the men gaining on him as he ran through the trees. He could scream for help, but he was sprinting deep into the woods, no one would hear him. JJ hopped over the tree roots and ducked under low branches. But the men did to. JJ was quickly running out of breath. The sun was setting, it was getting dark and he could barely see the tree roots. 

JJ let out a loud grunt as he managed to trip over a rogue root sticking out the ground. He harshly face-planted the ground. He was done for. The thugs caught up with him within seconds. “Grab him,” one muttered. Two of them grabbed JJ’s arms and lifted him up so he was on his knees. JJ cursed at himself as he felt ropes being wrapped around his wrists. He barely had enough energy to fight back, but he tried, and that gave him a nice punch in the face. The two men holding him then proceeded to lift him to his feet and JJ noticed Barry strutting over. 

“We don’t have to do this the hard way, kid. Gimme the money and i’ll let you skip on back to your little group, how bout it?” Barry said as he approached JJ. 

“I don’t have your fucking money, crack-head.” JJ immediately regretted saying that as Barry punched him hard in the gut. The ropes around JJ’s wrists were really beginning to burn now.

“Guess you wanna do this the hard way then, huh? I know you’re lying you little shit.” 

“Me? Steal your 25K? Now what the hell would I need that kinda cash for, eh? Been a pogue all my life, planning on staying that way.” JJ knew there was no way he was getting out of this. He was, in one word, terrified. But he didn’t show it. 

“I know exactly what you need that kinda cash for, pogue,” Barry got close up to JJ’s face. He stank purely of weed, making JJ lean as far back as he could. The men holding him shoved him upright and he made direct eye contact with the dealer, “you need that kinda cash to pay back the rich kid for sinking his precious lil boat, ain’t that right?” The complete look of shock in JJ’s eyes gave it all away. How the hell did he know? 

“Thought so,” Barry sniggered, “so what did you do with my money, kid?” JJ didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say.  
“Guess you chose the hard way.” That was the last thing JJ heard as he received a blow to the back of his head, knocking him out instantly.


	3. ransom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jj is in some big troubleeeeeee. 
> 
> also got some JJ/kie in this one :p
> 
> also this really isn’t good, i’m sorry lmao.

Kiara knew something was wrong. JJ wouldn’t go this long without texting her. She checked her phone again as she walked up to Pope.  
“Do you think he’s ok?” Kiara asked Pope. 

“Who, JJ? Yeah i’m sure he’s fine. His phone probably just ran out of battery.” Pope replied, with a hint of doubt in his voice. The two of them were standing outside Kie’s house, but Kie wasn’t going inside until she had a reply from JJ.

“I’m gonna call John B, see if he knows where JJ is.” Kiara muttered as she began to call him. Pope paced up and down the drive, trying his best to keep calm for Kiara. He felt something was wrong too. After all, JJ did steal 25K from a drug dealer, something was bound to go wrong. 

*kie and john on the phone*

“Hey John B? Has JJ messaged you? Do you know where he is?”  
“Sorry, Kie i haven't heard from him, why?”  
“Something's wrong, I can feel it.”  
“Hey look, i’m sure he’s fine, his phone probably ran out of battery.”  
“That’s exactly what Pope said.”  
“Kie, calm down, he’ll turn up eventually, he just needed some time to cool off. Hey look I gotta go, I promised Sarah that I would help her confront Rafe about stealing her sunglasses, see ya.” 

Kie was furious. How could John B choose Sarah over JJ. She clenched her fists and stomped over to Pope, who had gotten tired of pacing and was sitting on her front door step. 

“Can you believe it?! He didn’t sound remotely worried. It’s all about Sarah isn’t it. Ugh!” Kie plopped down next to Pope. 

“What do you wanna do?” Pope asked, fiddling with his show laces. 

* * * * * * * *

JJ moaned. The back of his head was throbbing. He squinted his eyes and tried to get a look of his surroundings. JJ was in an old, worn-down warehouse. By the looks of it, it used to be used for fixing boats. There were no windows, the only light was escaping through the small holes in the roof. Oh, and his arms were wrapped around a wooden chair and tied together at the wrists. His ankles were also bound to the chair legs. The chair was facing the door of the warehouse, which was clearly locked. JJ tugged at the ropes as hard as he could. He had a splitting head ache. How’d he get here again? Oh yeah, he stole 25K from a drug dealer. “Fuck.” JJ whispered to himself. There was no one around, or so he thought. He heard footsteps approaching him from behind him.

“Wouldn’t bother trying to loosen the ropes, kid, waste of your energy.” Barry chuckled as he walked closer. “Now, let’s get straight to the point shall we? I know you spent my money, I was expecting it from a filthy pogue like you.” Barry was directly behind the chair, he proceeded to press down on JJ’s shoulders, making him jump out of his skin. 

“Scared, boy? You should be,” Barry laughed manically, “i want my cash back, and you are gonna help me get it. You see, if your little buddies don’t produce 25K in the next 24 hours, well, it won’t end nicely for you let’s say.” 

JJ tried to control his breathing and stuttered, “you know we don’t have that kinda money, and besides, they’ll just go to the police. John B is pretty well aquatinted with Peterkin, and she’ll find you in no time, believe me.” JJ winced as he felt Barry’s grip on his shoulders tighten. Without warning, Barry flung the chair JJ was tied to as far as he could across the warehouse. JJ landed sideways on the hard, cold stone floor, crushing his left arm. JJ groaned, his whole body was aching. 

“YOU THINK YOU CAN THREATEN ME, POGUE?” Barry screamed at him, “NO ONE CAN FIND YOU HERE, I MADE SURE OF THAT. YOUR FRIENDS ARE GOING TO GET ME MY CASH.” JJ struggled against the ropes, hoping they might be looser at this angle. They weren’t. Why did he get himself into this mess? He heard Barry’s footsteps coming towards him. JJ’s mind was in a muddle, he couldn’t think of a good comeback. Shit, he was always good at these. 

“SON OF A BITCH!” JJ shouted at Barry. Probably not the best idea to get him more angry, but JJ at this point has lost control of his emotions. Barry lifted the chair up so it was standing upright again. JJ spat in Barry’s face, pure hatred in his eyes. 

“You’re a handful, boy.” Barry uttered as he began swinging punches into JJ's chest. JJ gritted his teeth and endured it. Sadly, he was used to this treatment. This went on for a while, until Barry got bored. JJ coughed and had his head bent low. All he could think of was Kiara. “Sorry.” JJ whispered to himself. Tears were forming in his eyes. But he wasn’t breaking. Not for this guy. 

“I ain’t finished with you yet, kid.” Barry kicked him one last time and then made his way to the door. JJ wasn’t finished with him either. He hollered a number of curses at Barry. This made him stop in his tracks. 

“You might wanna shut it, or i’ll make you.” Barry turned to face him. JJ wasn’t gonna take orders from this crackhead. He proceeded to scream even more rude statements at him, some which he thought didn’t even make any sense. Barry sighed and said, “your choice, kid.” 

As Barry was untying the bandana around his neck, he marched over to JJ. He started to wrap it round his mouth. JJ tried moving his head in different directions, but Barry held him firmly. Once Barry had gagged JJ he strutted out the warehouse without another word. 

JJ was left to sit there alone, wondering how the fuck he was meant to get himself out of this. What were his friends gonna do? What was Barry gonna do to him? There was no point trying to untie himself, it would just hurt more. JJ relaxed his body as best as he could, trying to ignore the swelling pain in his abdomen and the rope burn on his wrists. All he could do was wait. 

* * * * * *

John B jogged over to Sarah, who was waiting for Rafe to come back on his bike. “Who called you?” she asked, squinting into the horizon to try and spot her brother. 

“Kiara,” John B replied, “she thinks something happened to JJ. He hasn’t replied to anyone’s texts.” Sarah wrapped her arms around his waist.

“I’m sure he’s fine. Probably just needed time to cool off. Are you worried about him?”

“Well, I know JJ is perfectly capable of looking after himself,” John B sighed, “but with the money he stole?” Sarah was about to comfort him when she saw Rafe riding down the drive way, with a smug look on his face. She was about to ask about her sunglasses but instead he interrupted her, 

“Hey Sarah! Your little pogue friend is in big trouble, you hear me? Barry is after him now, that little bitch won’t last a day!”


	4. panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one is a bit late, i was behind with school work :/ 
> 
> in this one: the gang find out about JJ
> 
> so sorry this is barely even a chapter, i’ll have time to write bigger chapters further on :p
> 
> imma stop apologising and just write lmao

Pope was lost in his own world, that was until he was awoken by a scream. Kiara. Pope’s head shot up as he watched Kiara throw her phone across the pathway. 

Kie’s hands were shaking uncontrollably and tears were quickly forming in her eyes. 

“Woah what is it Kie?!” Pope wasn’t sure whether or not he should hug her, but this wasn’t the time. 

“...it’s JJ.” Kiara muttered, her voice breaking.

“On the phone?” Pope was so confused. Kiara burst out in a sob and told Pope to look. 

Hesitantly, Pope reached for the probably cracked phone lying on the ground. He turned it over to look at the screen.  
It was a picture of JJ, sent by an anonymous number. JJ, in short, looked like he had been through hell and back. His face was incredibly bruised and he had a gag shoved into his mouth. He was tied to a chair in some sort of warehouse and his shirt was ripped in several places, revealing more dark bruises. And by the looks of it, he was unconscious. 

Pope stifled his scream.  
“What the...fuck?” he whispered, “this...cant be real.” Kiara grabbed her phone and swiped to show the message after the photo. 

“Oh it’s fucking real alright,” she cried, “look at the message Pope! It says if we don’t produce 25K in the next 24 hours, they’re... they’re gonna fucking kill him.” Kiara wiped her tears off the phone screen and tried to control her shaking. 

Pope, trying his absolute best to keep it together for Kiara, said “right, we need to tell someone.” Kiara was about to reply but was interrupted by her ring tone. John B was calling her. 

“Put him on speaker.” she uttered to Pope. 

“Guys?” John B said through the phone, an urgent tone in his voice, “i think JJ’s in trouble. Rafe just said someone’s out to get him. The guy he stole money from. He sounded dead serious.” 

Neither Pope or Kiara knew how to respond. How to tell him.

“Guys?” John B asked.

“Uh dude,” Pope stuttered, “i’m gonna send you a screenshot of something.” 

“Try not to freak out.” Kiara added, clearly freaking out. 

There were a few seconds of silence as Pope sent the screenshot. He could barely press the buttons, his hands were starting to shake.

John B didn’t even try to hide his shocked gasp through the phone as he viewed the message. Kiara and Pope also heard Sarah in the background cry out, “oh my god.” 

“Guys, where are you?” John B asked, “me and sarah will meet you and we’ll, uh, decide what to do.” 

“We’re outside my house,” Kiara said, trying to hide her distraught tone. 

“Ok, kie, calm down, alright? I know this is scary but i’ll be there as fast as i can. Hang in there.” 

Kiara hung up the phone and immediately sunk into Pope’s arms. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” Pope muttered, contradicting his thoughts, “JJ’s gonna be fine.”


	5. guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey! sorry for the break! hope u enjoy!
> 
> also im making up a random character, Marcus, for the plot :) 
> 
> operation rescue JJ commences...

JJ had to admit, he could have had it worse. The people Barry had ordered to guard him just ignored him most of the time. They sat on old wooden crates and played cards, occasionally making fun of JJ for getting himself in this mess. He constantly twisted around in the ropes tying him down, he just couldn’t get comfortable. Not just physically, a thought lingered in the back of his mind. Barry had made it clear multiple times that it wouldn’t end well for him if his friends didn’t get him the money. Honestly, JJ didn’t think that crackhead would have the guts to kill him. 

But he could easily hire someone to do it for him. JJ’s heart beat always got out of control when he thought of how someone would kill him. Would he be shot? Stabbed? Strangled? Drowned? All four? JJ shuddered violently. It was the only thing he could think about. Well that, and all the things he never did. He never told Kiara how he felt. He never found his mother again. He never made a fortune out of the gold. He never passed his fucking history class despite his teacher having full faith in him. JJ almost laughed at himself. Why was he thinking about failing history? Now, of all times? 

JJ’s throat was painfully dry. He hadn’t been given any food or water, not that he expected it anyway. The gag in his mouth was rubbing against his lips annoyingly. He had tried several times to get it out but it was tied far too tight around his head. JJ sighed.

He wondered what his friends were doing. If they knew where he was. Probably not. They probably didn’t care, after all he did storm off on them. Even if they did know, how on earth were they going to get the money? JJ mentally kicked himself. 

One of the guards slammed his cards down on the table, making JJ jump out of his trance. “Yo boy,” he stood up and turned to face JJ, “boss said we could rough you up a bit, gotta admit, we didn’t want to since you’re only a kid, but i’m tired of losing every game of cards.” He smirked at his friend. The two burly men strutted up to JJ, one of them rubbing their hands together in twisted excitement. 

JJ squirmed in the chair, he couldn’t physically take another punch, not after what Barry did to him. One of the guys noticed his distress and smiled, “don’t worry,” he ran his fingers through JJ’s hair, “we’ll go easy on you kid.” 

JJ braced himself as a fist flew down and slammed into his cheekbone. His head twisted to the left from the force and he felt tears forming in his eyes. He’d kept them in for so long. JJ looked the guy that hit him in the eye and mumbled through the gag, “that was easy?” He doubted they could tell what he was saying as he endured another few punches. JJ grimaced as he started to taste blood in his mouth. He was about to prepare himself for another blow. “Stop!” Barry walked into the warehouse. 

The guards immediately returned to their posts. JJ wondered what an earth could have made Barry stop people beating him up. Part of him felt grateful even. “Got some news for ya, JJ,” Barry started to walk circles around the chair he was tied to, “me and the guys just sent a message out to one of ya buddies, Kiara her name was.” 

“No,” JJ thought, “why, of all people, did he send it to Kie?” Barry chuckled and muttered, “it’s all coming together.”  
Barry had an evil look of glee on his face as he left the warehouse. Before he opened the door, he turned to the guards and said, “oh, feel free to carry on with what you were doing.” And with that, the warehouse door slammed shut and JJ held his head down as the guards eagerly approached him once more. At this point, he just wished they’d kill him. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

John B slammed his foot on the breaks. Him and Sarah had reached Kiara’s house and they both clambered out the van. 

“Oh thank god, you guys are here.” Pope exclaimed as he and Kiara walked over to meet them. Kie’s eyes were red from crying. 

“We have to go to the police.” Sarah said immediately, stressfully running her hands through her hair. 

“What?!” Kiara almost screamed at her, “no, if we do that, they’ll find out and they'll kill him without the money or not. It’s not an option.” 

“Then how else are we gonna save him?!” Sarah protested, “we can’t magically make 25k in the time we’ve got.”

“Oh we can't,” Kiara was starting to get really angry, “but you can, you’re a kook, you probably have millions stashed away in that mansion of yours.” Sarah and Kiara continued to argue as Pope and John B looked at each other in disappointment. The feud between them wasn’t helping. Pope hastily stepped in between them, as Kiara looked like she was ready to punch.

“Guys!” John B shouted, “we aren’t gonna get anywhere arguing! Pull yourselves together!” Kiara stepped back from Sarah, guilt painted on her face. 

Pope kept fiddling with his hat, looking like he wanted to say something. The three looked at him apprehensively. “What is it, Pope?” Sarah asked.

“Well...look, I- I might have an idea. But it’s dangerous and there’s no guarantee it will actually work, so I wasn’t gonna say anything.” No one said anything, so Pope hesitantly continued, “there’s this guy I’m kinda friends with at school, he’s a big tech nerd, his name is Marcus. I think- well, I hope that he might be able to track where the text was sent from. If he can, we can rescue JJ.” 

There was a long silence, broken by John B, “well, that’s easier said than done...but i’m in. At this point, i’ll do anything. I feel guilty, like I should have tried harder to stop him from taking the money. I’m willing to risk anything to get him back safely.”

Pope and John B stared at the girls, waiting to see if they agreed. Kiara spoke up, “I agree,” she faced John B, “i’m willing to risk anything for him. I’m in.” All that was left was Sarah. 

Sarah stared at the three of them, hoping one of them would scream “Sike!” They didn’t. 

“Man...” Sarah sighed, almost in awe, “d’you guys always do stuff like this? Seems i’ve missed out on a lot.” She paused, trying to decide if what she was getting herself into was worth it. She barely knew JJ but that picture of him...no one deserves to go through that torture. 

“Well?” John B asked, awaiting her answer. 

“I am so in.”


	6. marcus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for not posting, i was tempted to just forget about this but i felt bad since a lot of u wanted an update, so here it is!  
> promise i’m gonna finish it :)
> 
> in this chapter, we meet marcus, and he’s cooler than he looks. 
> 
> (fyi, marcus has longish curly brown hair, quite small and wears glasses)

Marcus heard his mom talking to him through his headphones. He presumed it was just something about cleaning his room so he muttered, “yeah, yeah i’ll do it.” Marcus was fully engaged in his new video game and couldn’t care less about the state of his room. He fumbled with the controls as he tried to avert an attack from the enemy. Suddenly, his headphones were ripped off of his head. “Hey!” Marcus complained. 

“I’m gonna take that darn thing away from you if you don’t listen to me Marcus!” His mom swivelled his chair around so he was facing her, “you have friends here to see you, there’s four of them.” Marcus stared at his mom in utter disbelief. 

“You’re joking, right? You know I don’t have that many friends mom.” 

“Then who’s at the door? C’mon and let them in.” Marcus hesitantly got out of his chair and headed down the stairs. “This has to be a joke.” He thought to himself. 

Marcus stared at the sight before him. He didn’t even know these people, well, actually he recognised Pope, from the math team. “Uhhh, can I help?”

“Yes you can. Can we come in please?” Pope said urgently. 

“Uhhh, I mean, yeah ok but... is she ok?” Marcus pointed at Kiara who was silently sobbing in the background. Pope turned to look at Kie and then turned back and looked at Marcus. “No, she isn’t.” he replied blatantly. 

“Right.” Marcus really would rather not let them in.

Sarah knew this wasn’t getting anywhere, and decided to take the lead. “Hey! I’m Sarah Cameron, this is John Rutledge and this,” Sarah dragged Kiara out from behind Pope, “is Kiara Carrera. Nice to meet you. We need your help, so would you kindly let us in? Sorry to barge in on you like this.” 

Marcus, still a bit confused but slightly more reassured, replied “oh yeah sure, um, would you like to follow me?” 

As John B and Kiara walked in, Sarah turned to Pope. “That is how you talk to people, Pope.” Sarah let out a chuckle and followed everyone inside. Pope still stood in the doorway in shock, “What did I do wrong?!” 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rafe made his way to the meeting place, a slight skip in his step. He has finally came up with enough money to pay Barry for the drugs. As Rafe double checked his pockets for the cash, he wondered why Barry had chosen to meet in this area. It was a pretty abandoned place on the edge of the island that used to be used for fishing, but no one went to fish there any more because there were better waters elsewhere. So what business could Barry have there? 

Rafe approached a pretty abandoned warehouse, by the looks of it, it has seen better days. He spotted Barry standing outside by the doors, expecting him. 

“Hey richie, you got the cash?” 

“Yeah, “Rafe pulled out the cash from his pockets, “not a dollar less.” 

Barry took the money eagerly and proceeded to count it. Rafe began to take in his surroundings, not that there was much to look at, a few old rusted boats almost hidden by the overgrown bushes. There was an eerie feel to the place. Rafe then heard something that sent dreaded shivers through his body. A muffled cry. 

Barry didn’t seem to be affected by sound. Rafe plucked up the courage to ask, “hey, so uh, why are we meeting here? Is this your regular place now...or?” Barry grunted in annoyance from being interrupted from his counting. 

“Not regular, just temporarily have business here, not of your concern-“ Barry was interrupted by an even louder, painful cry. Rafe slowly backed away in utter terror. That was JJ, he was sure of it. 

“Hey kid, actually, I want you to see something.” Barry beckoned Rafe to the doors. 

“Uh, I’d rather not intrude-“ Barry grabbed his shirt and dragged him forward as he opened the doors. Rafe didn’t want to look, but he did. He knew from that second he would never be able to forget the sight. What had he done...?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Marcus instantly regretted not cleaning his room. He carefully tread over the comics and random gadgets he had spread across the floor, along with clothes and empty crisp packets. This was embarrassing. 

“Hey, uh, sorry about the mess, it’s just, I never expect anyone to come in here so...” 

“It’s alright.” John B assured as he slipped on a comic book. 

Once they had all settled, Marcus in his gaming chair, Kie and Sarah at the end of of the bed, John B on a stack off boxes and Pope on the one clean space of the floor, they began the talk. 

“So, uh, what can I help you with exactly?” Marcus said, staring directly at Kiara. 

“Right, what we are about to tell you will be a bit confusing and you’ll want to ask questions but I’m afraid we can’t let you. We need you to track a text message.” 

Marcus almost sighed in relief, tracking a text message was easy stuff. “Oh sure, I can do that! Can I see it?” 

Kiara pulled out her phone and shakily got the text message up. She really didn’t want to show Marcus. “Kiara, we won’t get anywhere if you don’t do this.” Pope insisted. 

Kiara sighed, regret plastered on her face as she turned her phone to show Marcus. 

Marcus’ eyes were glued to the phone in shock as he wondered exactly what he was getting himself into...


	7. running out of time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafe is shown that his actions have pretty dire consequences. The gang are running out of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!   
> lmao i know i wasn’t gonna take anymore breaks but i am very good at procrastinating.  
> also do you want something to happen JJ between Kiara? I’m not sure whether to write it in or not :)   
> (also thinking about redeeming Rafe idk)

“Just track the text please,” John B pleaded, “no questions.” Marcus looked at the group and back at the text message. 

“That’s JJ, right? He asked me to do his math homework once.” 

“That’s JJ and he needs your help, nothing will happen to you.” Pope stood up from the floor.

“Can you guarantee that?”

“Yes.” Pope really didn’t know if he could promise Marcus his safety but that wasn’t important. Pope treaded over the countless magazines and reached Marcus.

“We’re not forcing you. But you know what will happen if you don’t help us.” 

“Can’t you just tell the cops?” Marcus did want to help JJ, but he also really would rather not get involved.

“We can’t. They have people posted outside the station and tracking their calls. Plus, JJ would still get in trouble for stealing money and he’s on probation. This is the only option.” 

Marcus stared at Pope in deep thought. Out of nowhere Kiara jumped off the end of the bed and made her way over to Marcus. She swivelled his chair so he faced his computer. “Just do it.” She demanded. Marcus guessed he had no choice now. 

Sarah watched as John B, Kiara and Pope crowded around Marcus to see what he was doing. She hasn’t told anyone, but she was starting to regret joining them. This was dangerous. They hadn’t even planned what they were going to do once they knew where JJ was. This was reckless. 

Sarah sighed and made her way over to Marcus. “So, how are you doing this?” She asked him. 

********************  
Against his will, Rafe was pushed into the warehouse. He purposely focused his eyes on the ground. The men who had been beating JJ backed away as Barry made his way towards the poor kid.   
“Look what we caught!” Barry chuckled gleefully as he ruffled JJ’s mangled hair.   
Barry noticed Rafe’s eyes where elsewhere.  
“I said look.”   
Rafe, afraid what would happen if he didn’t do as Barry said, made eye contact with the pogue. The utter defeat and pain laced in JJ’s eyes made Rafe shudder. He had always despised JJ but part of him wanted to grab him and make a run for it. The kid looked on the verge of death. 

“He’s getting what he deserves,” Barry patted JJ on the shoulder with such force to make the pogue wince, “if it weren’t for you, Rafe, this kid would be walkin’ free.”

Rafe gulped as he watched JJ process what Barry had said. It was all his fault. The anger that formed on JJ’s bloodied face was indescribable. The pogue desperately tried to scream insults at Rafe but was unsuccessful as the gag was still firm in his mouth. Rafe did manage to identify a few words such as “son of a bitch” and “bastard”. JJ got his point across and guilt flooded Rafe’s chest. 

Barry grabbed JJ’s hair and forced him to look up. “You better shut the fuck up, kid. You’re wasting your energy.” 

Rafe awkwardly stood there and watched as Barry and JJ had a mental argument. Barry has obviously won as JJ bent his head down in exhaustion. This surprised Rafe, JJ never gave up that easily.

“So what are you going to do with him?” Rafe asked, brushing his hand through his hair. 

“This is the fun part,” Barry smiled wickedly, “if his friends don’t find a way to pay me back, this kid won’t be breathing by tomorrow.” 

Rafe stared at Barry, assuming he was joking. His heart skipped a beat when he realised he wasn’t. They were going to kill JJ. And it was his fault. There’s no way his little pogue friends could produce that much money by midnight. It was impossible. JJ was going to die. 

Barry spotted Rafe’s uneasy expression.   
“you know, i’m trusting you not to tell anyone boy,”  
Rafe immediately nodded.  
“because if you do, you’re gonna have the same fate as this fucker.” Barry gestured to JJ.   
“Won’t tell a soul.” Rafe said as confidently as he could.   
“Good.” Barry then ushered him out and slammed the rusty warehouse door in his face. 

Rafe stood in shock, trying to process what he’d just been through. Part of him wanted to throw up from seeing the state of JJ. He knew he should tell someone. But he couldn’t. Rafe gradually started to walk away, clearly very shaken. He didn’t want to be involved with this. He kept reminding himself, it was JJ. Rafe hated that pogue. “Fuck...” Rafe muttered to himself.

***************   
“You almost there?” John B asked Marcus who was typing away on his computer. 

“Almost.” Marcus was getting more and more annoyed. John B had asked him that at least seven times in the past 15 minutes. This text was especially hard to track as it was sent from an older phone and some of his tech wasn’t compatible with it. 

“It’s loading.” he muttered. The five of them waited in anticipation. A location popped up on the screen.

“Holy shit, that’s right on the edge of the island.” Kiara gasped.

“Look,” Pope pressed his finger against the screen, much to Marcus’ dismay, “its the old docks. He must be in the warehouse” 

“Wow, no one has ventured down there for years, gotta admit its a good place to do dirty work. That’s the last place i’d think of looking.” As Sarah spoke, she noticed John B’s face. “You okay, John B?” 

“Yeah...it’s just that me and JJ used to play there as kids. We used to dare each other to go into the warehouse. We never did, and eventually my dad found out we were going down there. He told us it was dangerous. We never went after that.” John B looked like he was on the verge of tears. Everyone was silent.

“Sorry to...you know, interrupt this sad silence but is this all you need?” Marcus regretted using those words immediately, “I mean, i can send the location to you.” He tapped a few buttons on his keyboards and air dropped it to Kiara’s phone.

“Thanks.” Kiara uttered. Marcus nodded and began to shut down his computer. 

“Better get going then?” Pope said.

“Yeah, we’ve gotta get there fast, it’s 3 hours till midnight.” Kiara replied.

Sarah knew someone had to say it, “okay but what’s the actual plan? Are we just going to walk in there and ask for JJ back and then wander off pretending like this never happened? They probably have weapons, and loads of people guarding the place. We won’t beat them, not the four of us.” 

“I mean, JJ has a gun, remember? We’ll get that and any other weapons we can find.” John B took Sarah’s hand, “I know this is stupid but it’s the only plan we’ve got. If you’re scared, you can leave. I won’t mind.” 

Marcus felt like he wasn’t meant to be listing to this conversation.

Sarah, offended that John B even suspected she was scared replied, “I’m not afraid! I just don’t want to die! And if something happens to us, JJ dies as well. We’re risking his life as well, John B” 

Kiara, still furios at Sarah, butted in, “Hey! JJ would be out by now if you’d just give us the money! You’ve got millions for fucks sake! Lending 25k to save his life is nothing to you!” Pope, who was at the doorway ready to leave, rushed back in to stop Kie from tackling Sarah.

Marcus felt like this was the time to interrupt. He stood up.“HEY!” he shouted, slightly afraid his mom would hear, “look, I barely know what’s going on but you lot are wasting time! You aren’t going to save JJ by fighting!” 

Marcus has never shouted at people before and literally had to sit back down and compose himself. “If it matters, I may have a better idea...”


	8. Change of heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafe questions his choices and Marcus is actually a pretty cool guy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey...? i don’t know if anyone is still here but i’m back! i had a sudden realisation at 2am that i wanted to finish this so, here you go! two more chapters and it’ll be done i think. sorry for making yall wait i’m just not good at sticking to things.  
> (also i know this is crap and i want to rewrite it all but oh well)

The pogues, still quite in shock from Marcus’ sudden outburst, remained silent. Marcus saw that as a sign to continue.

“Right so...I can’t guarantee this will work or anything but,” Marcus glanced at Kiara’s shaking fist, “ya’ll need all the help you can get.” 

Marcus leapt up from his chair and rummaged around in the boxes John B had been sitting on. 

Pope felt a bit guilty dragging Marcus into this, “hey, you know, you don’t have to get involved in this.” 

Marcus pauses his searching and turned his head to face Pope, “I’ll admit, I’d really rather not but... JJ’s life is on the line and frankly I’d go crazy knowing I didn’t help when I could’ve- ah! I found it.” 

Marcus dragged out a bunch of camo clothing from the box.  
“Wow...uh is that all?” Sarah asked.

“Well, you see before my dad died he used to take me hunting on the mainland and I’ve kept all our equipment and gear,” Marcus pulled out another hefty black bag, “I can teach you a few of our tricks, like how to get close without being seen and, i’m presuming you don’t want to kill anyone, so we had a few tricks to knock our prey out.”

Marcus shuffled around with his gear. “Right, I think this is everything.” 

The pogues once again we’re left quite speechless. John B spoke up.

“Well unless anyone has a better idea...?” No one uttered a word. “Then this is the best chance we have got.” 

Pope patted Marcus on the shoulders and said, “Bro, you are a lot cooler than I thought.” 

As the gear was distributed around the room, Marcus spoke up, “uh is it alright if you can bring it all back, presuming you come back-“ Marcus pausend realising what he said. He laughed nervously. “I mean of course you will make it uh- but yes, you see it’s the only thing i have left of my dad so i’d like it back if that’s all right.” 

The pogues nodded respectfully. John B noticed anger turn to fear in Kiara’s eyes.  
“Hey,” John B put his hand on Kie’s shoulder, “we will be fine.” 

“It’s getting dark, we need to get going.” Sarah said with a slight excitement in her eye. The gang was all geared up, with various camouflage clothes, nets and crossbows. 

Marcus wished them good luck. They were going to get JJ back. No matter what.

**********************

Rafe tried to make it home as fast as he could. He used the torch on his phone to get through the darkness. He’d always been scared of the dark- though he’d never liked to admit it. JJ was still on his mind. He tried to distract himself but it was impossible. Guilt was eating him up. 

Rafe came to a sudden holt. Voices. Ahead of him the trees were rustling. Rafe fumbled for his phone and flicked the torch off. Whoever they were, they must have seen him. Rafe ducked behind a bush and held his breath. Wait- was that Sarah? Rafe listend more closely and heard Sarah’s distinct nervous laugh. He had never been so happy to hear it. 

But wait- why were they here? Rafe thought they couldn’t possibly know where JJ was. As much as he hated it, he’d have to confront them. 

The pogues were seconds away from him, it was time. He emerged from the bush and whispered, “hey!” 

Within a second he was held to the ground by John B.  
“Hey,” he tried to speak but John B’s grip on him was a bit distracting, “it’s Ra-rafe.” 

He heard Sarah utter his name in surprise. John B reluctantly let go of him. Rafe picked himself up and casually wiped the dirt of him. 

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Pope angrily whispered at him. 

“I could ask you the same thing!” Rafe replied, a bit taken aback by the pogues outfits and weapons. Where on earth did they manage to get those?!

“You know where JJ is, don’t you?” Kiara hissed at him. Rafe hesitated for far too long which confirmed Kie’s suspicion. 

“Look I-“ Rafe began but was cut off by his sister.

“Take us to him Rafe.” Sarah demanded. 

“Sarah, you don’t understand! This isn’t a game, there are dangerous people in there and I don’t want you joining in with these filthy pogues! You don’t even know JJ, why are you risking your life to save him?” 

Now it was Sarah’s turn to hesitate as it dawned on her how dangerous this really was. Was she prepared to risk her life for JJ Maybank? 

“Guys, we are wasting time, we don’t have long until midnight,” Pope looked at Sarah, “and if you want to bail on us now, fine. I’m not stopping you- but we need to get going. 

Sarah looked into Rafe’s pleading eyes and then at the pogues. She wasn’t a coward. And she wasn’t like her brother. And she was going to prove that. 

“I’m going with them,” Sarah declared, “and if you don’t want to help us Rafe, that’s okay but it’ll haunt your conscience for the rest of your life.” 

And with that, the pogues headed fowards, hoping they were going the right way. They were relying on John B’s faint memory of the place. 

Sarah’s words echoed in Rafe’s head. He should help them. It’s the right thing to do. Keeping his distance, he shadowed the group, ready to intervene if they took the wrong turn. He was utterly terrified of betraying Barry. Rafe really wasn’t sure if they’d make it out of this. 

*******************  
JJ groaned as he heard footsteps coming towards him.  
Barry laughed with sick glee. “Almost midnight kid! I wouldn’t get your hopes up.” The dealer patted his shoulder, making JJ jump a little. 

He ached all over. He needed to sleep but it was nearly impossible with the position he was in. He kept asking himself the same question. Would this be his last hour?


	9. tears flow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang have one chance to save JJ. 
> 
> But will it go as planned?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey the ceo of inconsistency is BACK.
> 
> so, for those of you who still wanted to read this , I’m gonna finish it for yall :) 
> 
> Also i basically just made up this chapter as I went along so i’m not entirely happy with it. 
> 
> I hope yall have good imaginations :)

JJ didn’t usually cry. He didn’t like to look weak. But he had reached his limit. With Barry constantly taunting him, and the two guards giving him infinite bruises, he’d had enough. 

A few tears made their way down his purple, blood-stained cheek. And soon there were more, JJ couldn’t stop them. 

Barry, preoccupied with his friends game of cards, began to hear JJ’s faint whimpering. Slowly, he turned around, a smug look plastered on his face.

“Aw, I finally broke you, huh? What a shame, I thought you were stronger than that, kid.” 

JJ choked back a sob through his gag and refused to make eye contact with Barry. This was humiliating. Barry began to stroke JJ’s hair, humming a tune. 

“It’s alright, it’ll all be over for you soon anyway, remember? And oh- your poor friends, living with that guilt the rest of their lives? Heart-breaking. But hey, you should thank me, soon enough you’ll be with your dear mother. Ain’t that nice. Knowing your father, he’ll probably drink himself to death after you’re gone. What a happy ending for you all.” 

JJ was visibly fuming. His hands turned to fists behind his back, digging his nails into his palm to try and calm himself down. If by some miracle he got out of this alive, he swore he was going to get revenge.

“Clock’s ticking, JJ” 

————————————————

John B knew the fate of JJ rested on him finding this warehouse. And he was utterly terrified. 

“Hey! Dude, you’re breathing too loud!” Pope whispered at him. 

John B started to shake as he made his way through the bushes, his flashlight was slowly dimming. He didn’t know where he was going. 

John B stopped in his tracks and fell to the ground, his hands in his face, trying not to cry. 

Sarah came up to him and carefully put her arms around him. “It’s alright, we’ll find him, I promise.” 

John B unexpectedly lashed out, “HOW? I DONT KNOW WHERE IM GOING, WE HAVE LESS THAN 20 MINUTES. WE ARE LOST, SARAH.” 

Pope beckoned him to quieten down. Kiara started to cry again. Sarah, slightly taken aback, moved away, crashing into Rafe who sensed it was time to intervene. She stifled her scream as she realised who it was. 

“Oh,” Sarah said, composing herself, “finally decided to join us then?” 

Rafe rolled his eyes and muttered something incomprehensible. 

“Take us to him.” John B demanded, slightly scaring the others in the darkness of the night. 

Rafe was a little surprised that the pogues trusted him. But they were at a last resort anyway. He took John B’s torch and shined it around them, looking for something recognisable. 

A branch of a tree. Rafe sighed in relief. On the way to the warehouse, he almost walked into that branch so he made a mental note to avoid it next time. 

“This way. You guys strayed off the path slightly. We’re close.” 

Kiara wiped the tears off her face and headed towards the branch the torch was shining at. 

“Are you okay, kie?” Pope asked. 

Kie stopped in her tracks. “I’m gonna find JJ. I’m gonna save him. Even if it’s the last thing I do.” 

———————————————

“Right,” Rafe began, “there’s two guys outside and three guys inside including Barry- oh, and they’re armed.” 

The gang were crouched behind the bushes near the warehouse. Sarah knew for sure they would be seen if they got any closer, even with the camouflage Marcus provided. 

“How exactly are we going to do this then?” John B muttered. Then came a dreaded silence. 

Sarah had an idea. Whether or not she could pull it off was another matter entirely. 

“Pope?” Kie nudged him, “you usually have the ideas.” Pope was visibly stressed, probably going through every single outcome. 

Sarah knew what she had to do. “Hey, guys,” the attention turned to her, “what if I was a...distraction. So, you all could go around the back and find a way in. It’s really the only way we can do this discreetly.” 

As Sarah suspected, John B immediately disagreed. “It’s too dangerous, especially on your own.” 

As the pogues started to argue about each other’s safety, Rafe was trying to butt in. 

“G-guys! GUYS! First of all, shut up. Second of all, i’ll be the distraction, with Sarah. I don’t want her doing this alone and, well, they know who I am. They won’t be as suspicious. Please- just let me do this.” Rafe desperately wanted to get rid of the guilt building up inside of him. 

No one disagreed. 

“Okay, Sarah you have to take off your camouflage, try and look as chill as possible,” Pope sarcastically laughed at himself, “if you can?” 

Sarah nodded and with the help of Rafe, they got prepared for their role. 

John B, Kiara and Pope began to shuffle their way to the back of the warehouse as Sarah and Rafe began to emerge out of the shadows to talk to the guards. 

“She’ll be okay.” Kie reassured John B.

Their weapons included: JJ’s stolen gun, a hunting crossbow which frankly, none of them had any clue how to operate, a couple of nets and their determination to get out alive and with JJ. 

Of course, the pogues didn’t want to kill anyone, it was just for defense. 

Eventually, the three of them got to the back of the warehouse. Kie could hear a couple of raised voices inside, Barry must have found out about Rafe and Sarah. 

This was their chance. 

——————————————

JJ genuinely thought that he’d started hallucinating when Sarah Cameron walked in.

By the utter look of horror painted on Sarah’s face, JJ knew he must be in worse shape than he thought. Sarah then smiled, which made JJ very nervous as he couldn’t tell whether she was happy he was in this situation or trying to comfort him. 

Wait, if Sarah was here, John B must be too. He wouldn’t leave her side, right? 

“Why’d you bring your sister here, Rafe?  
Did she come to see the show?” Barry asked with a hint of suspicion. 

Rafe began to stutter under the pressure so Sarah decided to take things into her own hands. 

“Yes,” Sarah said rather confidently, “I am. You see, my brother called me to tell me the situation. I’ve always hated JJ, and although I think killing him is a bit of a reach, I wouldn’t mind seeing him suffer. Also, his friend Kiara. Me and her aren’t at odds and I’d like to see the look on her face when she realises what has happened to her, well, friend.” 

JJ’s eyes stung. He knew for sure she wasn’t telling the truth but, damn, that hurt. 

Sarah walked over to him and pretended to examine him.   
“Nice job you’ve done here.” She then leaned closer and whispered in JJ’s ear. Her words overwhelmed JJ with hope. Maybe this wouldn’t be his final hour. 

“Why, thank you,” Barry replied, a little too proudly, “I didn’t think someone like you would like this kinda stuff.” 

JJ sighed with relief. Barry actually believed her, by some miracle. Barry walked over to the two of them.

“Wanna see some more?” Barry grinned and took a swing at JJ’s chest, winding him. 

JJ winced and began to taste blood in his mouth. He really couldn’t take much more of this, where were his friends? 

Sarah, absolutely disgusted, disguised her emotions with a smirk. 

Suddenly, a faint banging sound emerged from the back of the warehouse. It got louder and louder, the guards jumped from their seats. Barry whipped out his gun and aimed it at the noise. 

JJ was facing away from the back of the warehouse, but if that was his friend’s incredible escape plan, they were screwed. 

Rafe chuckled nervously, “I’m sure it’s just an animal” 

All of a sudden, the door broke down, and out spilled three pogues. John B immediately got to his feet and aimed the gun at Barry, “so much for the element of surprise” he muttered to himself. 

Kiara held the crossbow and pointed it at where the guards were gathered and Pope held the nets. 

Two of Barry’s men had guns, the other two had knives.

There was a moment of silence, as Barry was registering the turn of events. Without warning, he pointed his gun at JJ’s head. 

“Now,” Barry grinned manically, “this is not what we planned, is it kids?” 

“Just let him go please, we can work out another way plea-“ Kiara begged but was cut short. 

“QUIET!” Barry shouted. 

JJ’s heart sunk as he listened to Kie, he didn’t want her to go through this. JJ took a wild guess this wasn’t going as planned but at the moment there was nothing he could do. There was a gun to his head and his friends were about to watch him die. Perfect. 

Barry turned to Rafe, “what did I say I’d do to you if you betrayed me, huh?” 

“Please- please I can explain-“ Rafe began. 

“Hey!” John B interrupted, “do you really want his blood on your hands, our blood?! Think about what you’re doing, man” 

Barry didn’t listen, he pressed the gun harder against JJ’s head. 

JJ squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for a miracle. 

Pope raised his voice, but it was laced with fear which didn’t make him that intimidating, “look, we can get you the money, i swear, just let go of JJ first, okay? He didn’t mean to steal it- he just“ 

“He didn’t mean to steal it?!” Barry cackled, “don’t give me that shit, boy, I know he needed it to pay of the boat he sunk.”

Barry’s finger stroked the trigger. They couldn’t attack, JJ would be dead within seconds. Either way, JJ wouldn’t make it. 

Suddenly, four tins rolled into the warehouse from behind Kie, John B and Pope. The three span around and locked eyes with Marcus. 

The tin-looking objects started to make a whooshing sound and smoke rapidly started pouring out. Smoke bombs. 

“Quick! Now’s your chance!” Marcus yelled at them. 

The three didn’t even have time to question him. They were going into the battlefield blind. 

“Sarah, Rafe, get down!” John B shouted into the smoke. He didn’t want to accidentally hit them. 

One of the guards, emerged from the smoke and went for Pope, only to be shot in the shoulder by Kiara, who looked somewhat proud and horrified at the same time. Pope grabbed the guards gun from his hands. John B made his way through, trying to find Barry and JJ, while Pope and Kiara aimed to find the other three guards. 

JJ started to cough from the density of the smoke which gave John B a good idea of where he was. 

Cautiously, he traveled closer to the sound and suddenly the silhouette of Barry began to appear. From the looks of it, he still had the gun aimed at JJ’s head. John B made his way around and pounced on Barry from the back, grabbing his shooting arm and pulling it up. 

Barry shot randomly out of fear, the bullet hit the roof and the sound echoed throughout the warehouse. The force of the bullet caused some of the rotting roof to fall down. A few grunting noises came from where the wood landed. John B prayed it hit the guards and not his friends. 

Barry tried to trip up John B, but he was too fast. John B was significantly stronger than Barry, this fight was going to be easy. 

—————————————— 

As the smoke began to fade away, Sarah noticed Marcus, who was crouched at the back door, in pure shock at what he’d done. 

She also watched as Pope and Kiara threw the nets over the three guards, who thankfully had been knocked pretty badly by the falling debris.

The entirety of the smoke finally cleared, which left John B in the middle of the warehouse and Barry in a chokehold. 

——————————— 

JJ could barely process what just happened, well, he barely saw any of it. 

Also, he could barely breath. 

Kiara rushed over to him and gently took the gag out of his mouth. JJ couldn’t even look her in the eye, he didn’t want to. He started uncontrollably coughing. 

“Oh, JJ...” Kaira sobbed and stroked his battered cheeks while Pope used the guards knife to untie JJ’s hands and feet. 

Sarah was on the phone, calling for an ambulance. Rafe was sitting in the corner of the warehouse, trying to process everything. 

Marcus awkwardly stumbled in, “I- I brought some first aid stuff-“ he didn’t even get to finish as Kiara grabbed the supplies out his hands. 

“It’s going to be okay, JJ. Look at me.” she begged him. 

Their tear-filled eyes met. 

Meanwhile, John B had managed to knock out Barry. He made his way over to where JJ was sitting. Kiara gave him some wipes and he helped her clean as much blood off of JJ as possible. 

“Guys, an ambulance is coming.” Sarah delivered the much-needed news. She then, surprisingly, went and sat next to Rafe, exhausted. 

“Marcus, we owe you so much-“ Pope began but Marcus stopped him.

“You don’t owe me anything.” he simply said. 

JJ started to feel very faint. He could head Kiara talking but he couldn’t tell what she was saying. He felt himself slipping off the chair, his vision more and more fuzzy. 

“Woah, woah there JJ,” John B very gently lifted him back up, “you gotta stay with us.” 

Rafe noticed bottles of water where the guards were playing cards. He grabbed one and sheepishly walked over to JJ. 

“Does he, uh, need water?” 

Kiara smiled and took the bottle. “Thankyou.” 

JJ didn’t usually cry. But as he felt himself slipping away, a few exhausted tears slipped down his cheek onto Kie’s hand.


End file.
